Hemibagrus punctatus,[3] or Nilgiri mystus, is a species of fish in the family Bagridae. It was first described by Jerdon in 1849.[4][5] It is endemic to east-flowing rivers in the Western Ghats of India. Of these, the species is likely only found in the Kaveri River; records from the Krishna River may actually be of H. maydelli. However, one record from the west-flowing Bharatappuzha River has been tentatively assigned to this species.[6] The last record of this species was in 1998, and it may have experienced a population decline of nearly 100%; thus, IUCN categorizes the species as critically endangered (possibly extinct). It is threatened by habitat degradation by excess siltation, excess fishing, and dam construction.[1] However, based on several specimens caught by fishermen between 2011 and 2012 that likely belong to this species, as well as testimonies from local fishers, moderate populations of this species may still be extant in the region.[6]
| Nilgiri mystus | |
|---|---|
| |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Siluriformes |
| Family: | Bagridae |
| Genus: | Hemibagrus |
| Species: | H. punctatus
|
| Binomial name | |
| Hemibagrus punctatus (Jerdon, 1849)
| |
| Synonyms | |
|
Mystus maydelli (non Rössel, 1964)[2] | |
No subspecies are listed in the Catalogue of Life.[4]
References edit
- ^ a b Raghavan, R. & Ali, A. (2011). "Hemibagrus punctatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2011: e.T172430A6890986. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2011-1.RLTS.T172430A6890986.en. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ a b Talwar, P.K. and A.G. Jhingran (1991). Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Vol. 2. Rotterdam: A.A. Balkema.
- ^ a b c Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard (eds.). "Species related to Hemibagrus punctatus". Catalog of Fishes. California Academy of Sciences.
- ^ a b "Hemibagrus punctatus (Jerdon, 1849)". Catalogue of Life. Species 2000: Leiden, the Netherlands. Retrieved 24 September 2012.
- ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2014). "Hemibagrus punctatus" in FishBase. September 2014 version.
- ^ a b Ali, A.; Dahanukar, N.; Kanagavel, A.; Phillip, S.; Raghavan, R. (2013-07-26). "Records of the endemic and threatened catfish, Hemibagrus punctatus from the southern Western Ghats with notes on its distribution, ecology and conservation status". Journal of Threatened Taxa. 5 (11): 4569–4578. doi:10.11609/jott.o3427.4569-78. ISSN 0974-7907.